The Curator of All Things

#ExhibitionTips: Stockholm

I as mentioned in my last post, I was in Stockholm a few days ago. I get inspired by my visits. I thus thought it was the opportunity to start a new series of posts: Exhibition Tips. I will share inspirations: display ideas and curatorial practices that I find interesting, innovative, inspiring, or simply good. Let’s begin with Stockholm which presents some compelling propositions.

Stockholm is a city with a lot of museums to visit and a vibrant cultural scene. During my stay, I visited Fotografiska (photography museum), the Nordiska Museum (about Swedish culture), Aquaria (the aquarium), Moderna Museet (modern art museum), Skansen (the architecture open air museum) and Livrustkammaren (the Royal Armouy). I will focus on these. I didn’t have the time to go to the Abba Museum or Dansmuseet. They will be for my next visit!

Here are nice ideas I collected:

Spaces to sit and relax

It might seem like the simplest and most obvious idea, but it was really nice to see a lot of dedicated spaces to relax and take a break in Stockholm’s museums. I saw some at the Armoury, Nordiska Museet and in the permanent exhibition at Moderna Museet with a few books to have a look at. The most compelling example, however, was in Josef Frank: Against Design, ArkDes’ temporary exhibition at Modernaa Museet, in particular the first room which recreated the atmosphere of a bar with tables, lights and music. The perfect place to sit and chat.

Staying at Moderna Museet, in the same exhibition, there was a display of furniture which showed the objects of one apartment decorated by Joseph Frank. In the background, pictures of it were shown. The pattern of the carpet in the rooms was reproduced on the plinth where the furniture was presented. Simple, smart, compelling.

At the Royal Armory and Nordiska Museet, I noticed interesting ways of displaying textile and dress. The curators used discrete transparent plinths putting the focus on the items which appear as they float. Then, they created levels with them and it becomes dynamic and very engaging.

At Nordiska Museet, there was an exhibition about the use of light in Nordic countries. I went at the end of my visit of the museum and was thus quite tired and did not read the panels, I jut walked through. However, I would like to share what I saw. The scenography was very smart: the rooms were all painted with a yellow which became lighter gradually, until the last room about today’s practices and the possibility of complete artificial lightness but the choices made sometimes to remain in darkness (it was possible to turn the light on and off, reflecting today’s behaviors). The visit thus starts with a dark yellow room and ends in a bright one. I thought it was a direct and smart way to convey the main idea of the exhibition. In the last room, there was also a beautiful display with items embedded in a walls. I am just showing it for pleasure.

I am finishing with the most simple (but the best) idea: a mirror. It creates reflection, and thus depth and amusement (you see yourself in it). I love it! The following example was found at Aquaria, the city’s aquarium. It works really well in the tropical forest. Let’s just say I had fun (you can see my reflection).